Beyond-the-edge proliferation after relaxing retinectomy.

PURPOSE: To report beyond-the-edge proliferation (BTEP) after relaxing retinectomies (RR) i.e. fibrous sheets stretched between the RR edge and the far periphery; to evaluate the tractional potential and report the long-term course of BTEP. METHODS: Retrospective review of the medical records of 83 patients having undergone a RR between January 2009 and December 2014 to identify patients with BTEP. RESULTS: Six patients aged 31 to 76 were identified. Retinectomy had been performed for traumatic retinal incarceration in one case and anterior PVR in 5 cases. BTEP occurred within weeks of the RR (earliest: 5 weeks). It was discovered intraoperatively in two patients with silicone oil tamponade, at 7 weeks and 6 months respectively after RR. It recurred over a few months after excision in 5 patients, causing inferior tractional retinoschisis in 4 patients and inferior tractional retinal detachment in two patients. CONCLUSIONS: BTEP is an unusual form of proliferative vitreoretinopathy developing despite the absence of the usual vitreo-retinal support (excised during RR), probably through compartmentalization and cell migration along the inferior interface between silicone oil or gas and the aqueous humour. BTEP can cause serious retinal traction, develops over weeks after the RR and recurs frequently a few months after excision.

[What size of surgical margins for carcinoma of the eyelid?]. / Quelles marges d'exérèse pour les carcinomes de paupières ?

Traditional surgical treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer includes excision with adjacent surgical margins, such "safety" margins theoretically leading to lower recurrence rates. Thus, some authors favor a clinical excision margin of 4mm for basal cell carcinoma and 6mm for squamous cell carcinoma. However, such "safety" margins cannot be applied in all cases of eyelids tumors for anatomic and functional reasons, because such recommendations may lead to severe ocular complications, even loss of the globe. Thus, in order to mitigate these issues in oculoplastic surgery, excision with reduced margins is proposed, either with frozen sections or with traditional pathologic analysis and secondary reconstructive surgery several days later. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that it is possible to reduce surgical margins while respecting "safety" from tumor recurrence, in order to preserve ocular integrity. The most appealing technique is frozen section of the margins, corresponding to "slow-Mohs" micrographic surgery.

[Orbital inflammation]. / Inflammation orbitaire.

Orbital inflammation is a generic term encompassing inflammatory pathologies affecting all structures within the orbit : anterior (involvement up to the posterior aspect of the globe), diffuse (involvement of intra- and/or extraconal fat), apical (involvement of the posterior orbit), myositis (involvement of only the extraocular muscles), dacryoadenitis (involvement of the lacrimal gland). We distinguish between specific inflammation and non-specific inflammation, commonly referred to as idiopathic inflammation. Specific orbital inflammation corresponds to a secondary localization of a "generalized" disease (systemic or auto-immune). Idiopathic orbital inflammation corresponds to uniquely orbital inflammation without generalized disease, and thus an unknown etiology. At the top of the differential diagnosis for specific or idiopathic orbital inflammation are malignant tumors, represented most commonly in the adult by lympho-proliferative syndromes and metastases. Treatment of specific orbital inflammation begins with treatment of the underlying disease. For idiopathic orbital inflammation, treatment (most often corticosteroids) is indicated above all in cases of visual loss due to optic neuropathy, in the presence of pain or oculomotor palsy.

[Ophthalmological complications of giant cell arteritis]. / Complications ophtalmologiques de la maladie de Horton (artérite à cellules géantes).

Giant cell arteritis, temporal arteritis is a systemic vasculitis, which involves large and medium-sized arteries, especially the extracranial branches of the carotid arteries, in patients above the age of 50. Ischemic complications may involve the eye, orbit, or visual pathway, with blindness being the most feared complication. Visual ischemic complications are observed at least in 25% of patients with giant cell arteritis. Irreversible visual loss is mainly due to acute anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. Thus, in any patient above the age of 50 with any manifestation of ocular ischemia, transient or permanent, giant cell arteritis must be considered and ruled out by an emergent targeted investigation and inflammatory work-up. Steroids remain the treatment of choice for giant cell arteritis and must be instituted immediately upon suspicion of the diagnosis, even in the physician's office. The goal is to protect the eye and visual pathways from irreversible blindness or to prevent contralateral disease. Thus, steroid treatment does not constitute a cure for already-incurred visual loss, which will still carry an unfavourable prognosis.